The Teammates (Hardcover)

This book is a must read for all Ted Williams and die-hard Red Sox fans. Halberstam is careful to portray the great "Ted Williams" as a true baseball legend but also a man with flaws. Moreover, the author does a magnificent job of detailing the Red Sox rivalry with the New York Yankees and Boston's frustrating pursuit of a World Series Championship during this era.

Halberstam uncovers real gems of baseball information. For instance, in 1941, the year Ted Williams hit .406, Bobby Doerr noticed that Williams had made a slight adaptation in his swing because he had chipped a bone in his right ankle during spring training. "Every day Williams would have it wrapped, and he favored the ankle thoughout the season. Because of that, Bobby believed that Williams as a left-handed hitter was favoring his right or front foot and staying back a little more when he swung and so he hit an inordinate number of sinking line drives just past the second baseman into right field," the author reports.

Williams of course is the last Major League Baseball player to hit .400 or better in a single season. To this end, the author repeats some special baseball folklore...that on the last day of the infamous 1941 season Boston faced the Philadelphia Athletics in a doubleheader and, "Ted's average rounded out to .400 and manager Joe Cronin had offered him the day off. But Ted Williams did not round things out, and he had played, gotten six hits, and taken the average up to .406," the author reports. Halberstam comments that few modern day ball players would have had the pride and work ethic to risk it all and do the same thing. Williams had a good day...but if he had gone hitless in six at bats...he would have failed to hit above the difficult .400 benchmark, Halberstam makes a point of reminding the readers.

I think what truly makes this book special is the fact that Doerr, DiMaggio and Pesky were profoundly decent human beings. Unlike Williams who had three marriages and a rocky relationship with his kids, his "teammates" had solid marriages and wholesome lives. Nevertheless, the four men formed a unique friendship that is both hearthwarming and a tribute to their generation of baseball players. Highly recommended.

Bert Ruiz

Warm and nostalgic, the book opens in October, 2001, as Dom DiMaggio, accompanied by Boston writer Dick Flavin and Johnny Pesky, makes a melancholy car trip from Boston to Florida to pay a last visit to Ted Williams, who is dying. As the men drive from Boston to Florida, they reminisce about their playing days more than fifty years in the past, recalling anecdotes about their friendship and talking about their lives, post-baseball. .

Halberstam uses these memories as the framework of this book, describing the men from their teenage years. All were from the West Coast, all were about the same age, and all arrived in Boston to begin their careers within the same two-year period. All shared similar values, and all but Ted came from supportive families. Ted Williams, "the undisputed champion of contentiousness," was the most dominant of the group. Bobby Doerr, was Williams's closest friend and roommate, "a kind of ambassador from Ted to the rest of the world" and "among the nicest and most balanced men." Bespectacled Dom DiMaggio, the brother of Vince and Joe, was the consummate worker, a smart player who had been "forced to study everything carefully when he was young in order to maximize his chances and athletic abilities." Johnny Pesky, combative and small, was also "kind, caring, almost innocent."

Stories and anecdotes, often told by the players themselves, make the men individually come alive and show the depth and value of their friendship. The four characters remain engaging even when, in the case of Williams, they may be frustratingly disagreeable. Though their journey to Williams's deathbed is a sad one, we see them, in Halberstam's sensitive rendering, as men who have always recognized and preserved the most important of human values. In that respect they continue to serve as heroes and exemplars to fans of baseball. Mary Whipple

This book is a must read for all Ted Williams and die-hard Red Sox fans. Halberstam is careful to portray the great "Ted Williams" as a true baseball legend but also a man with flaws. Moreover, the author does a magnificent job of detailing the Red Sox rivalry with the New York Yankees and Boston's frustrating pursuit of a World Series Championship during this era.

Halberstam uncovers real gems of baseball information. For instance, in 1941, the year Ted Williams hit .406, Bobby Doerr noticed that Williams had made a slight adaptation in his swing because he had chipped a bone in his right ankle during spring training. "Every day Williams would have it wrapped, and he favored the ankle thoughout the season. Because of that, Bobby believed that Williams as a left-handed hitter was favoring his right or front foot and staying back a little more when he swung and so he hit an inordinate number of sinking line drives just past the second baseman into right field," the author reports.

Williams of course is the last Major League Baseball player to hit .400 or better in a single season. To this end, the author repeats some special baseball folklore...that on the last day of the infamous 1941 season Boston faced the Philadelphia Athletics in a doubleheader and, "Ted's average rounded out to .400 and manager Joe Cronin had offered him the day off. But Ted Williams did not round things out, and he had played, gotten six hits, and taken the average up to .406," the author reports. Halberstam comments that few modern day ball players would have had the pride and work ethic to risk it all and do the same thing. Williams had a good day...but if he had gone hitless in six at bats...he would have failed to hit above the difficult .400 benchmark, Halberstam makes a point of reminding the readers.

I think what truly makes this book special is the fact that Doerr, DiMaggio and Pesky were profoundly decent human beings. Unlike Williams who had three marriages and a rocky relationship with his kids, his "teammates" had solid marriages and wholesome lives. Nevertheless, the four men formed a unique friendship that is both hearthwarming and a tribute to their generation of baseball players. Highly recommended.

Bert Ruiz